Great candid photos are quite tough to achieve. But that does mean that you can’t ever take one. We have here some helpful, proven effective, and timeless ways to help you hone your photography skills and keep you ready to click when the opportunity comes.
Taking photos is easy but capturing candid ones is yet another story. Great candid photos are quite tough to achieve. It entails more than just capturing a moment. You also need to capture the emotion and the story behind such a moment to make your photo perfectly candid and special. Unfortunately, such best moments are fleeting and they can easily pass your camera in less than a second.
Candid photos need to be spontaneous. They should be unplanned and unposed. Otherwise, they will feel fake and less impressive. But don’t be sad, it is still not too late to learn the ropes of capturing candid photos. We have here some helpful, proven effective, and timeless ways to help you hone your photography skills and keep you ready to click when the opportunity comes.
Give more emphasis to your subject
The major difference between candid photos and amateur images is the focus. If you try to observe the images taken by professional photographers, you will notice that the frame is filled with the subject. You can do this by getting closer to your subject.
By getting closer to your subject, you don’t only fill the frame, you can likewise eliminate the unnecessary, cluttered backgrounds, thus allowing better emphasis to your subject and more authentic candid portrait.
Never take your hands off your camera
When it comes to candid portrait, proper timing is very critical. You will never know when the best opportunity comes so it is better to be ready at all times. One important thing you need to always remember- if you seriously want to capture candid photos, extend your patience, wait for the perfect moment, and never take your hands off your camera.
A few times in the past, I experienced missing awesome shots because I felt lazy and tired of holding my camera for a too long period of time. And I learned a lot from those experiences. As a human being, it is normal for you to get tired especially if you have been holding your camera for hours already. The best solution for this is to use a strap to carry your camera with you all the time. By doing so, you do not have to find your camera elsewhere and you can easily grab it when you need to. And oh, make sure it’s always turned on so you can quickly snap the shot before the moment is gone.
Ambient light or flash?
Many enthusiasts of portrait photography in Delhi debate about which will yield better results- shooting with flash or ambient light, especially when shooting outdoors? My personal take? Well, it depends on the situation and on your preference or techniques also. Though natural light makes candid photos more authentic, that does not mean that shooting with flash will make your photos feel less spontaneous.
If you choose to use ambient light, find the best angle where your subject can receive the highest quality of light and then position yourself in such direction so you won’t need to move around whenever a snap-worthy moment comes.
In instances where you can’t find the perfect direction for shooting with ambient light, it is better to use a flash than to have a shadowy photo. A flash can improve your photos by taking the shadows off your subject.
Practice makes perfect
Professional portrait photography is not like an “overnight success”. You need to work on your skills and gain more experience. As the old folks always say, practice makes perfect. So, practice, practice, practice.
It also helps to create a photo journal. Say, for instance, shoot candid photos every single day for a month or a year and then post each photo on your social media page or scrapbook. At the end of the month or year, try to scan over your daily posts and see how much you have improved.